You said Silent Hill 3 earlier. You don't even know what game you're talking about.

Also, sorry Ramza.

...those two points were about completely different subjects. I mentioned SH3's mall scene as being one of the few scenes that HAD music in it. Now I am talking about one of the scenes, which to me was one of the most memorable in the series, as having NO music. This is not hard to follow.

@Hidoshi: Sound engineering and music are different beasts. Yamaoka's sound engineering is brilliant, on that point I will agree, but his music is bland and mostly unmemorable. Which is hwy I get confuzzled when people praise his music, which is mostly non-existant and barely even heard in the games.

Will SH be missing something if they decide to not hire Yamaoka for sound engineering from this point on? Probably. But my point is that the games have been fine without the other members of Team Silent being there, so the possibility of losing another doesn't really faze me. Because unlike 90% of the other SH fans, I actually think that the later games were still rather good, and that's probably because I don't have SH2's dick in my mouth.

I mean, honestly. I can't even -imagine- being really scared of anything in SH2. SH1 had me quivering in my room with all the lights on. But I almost laughed at some of the "tense" moments in SH2, atmospheric sounds or no.

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Actually, thinking about what I said earlier with 'may as well start a new series'... That probably depends more upon intent than anything else. Even if it doesn't feel like Silent Hill arguably should, it doubles as a launch point to create something new, taking ideas from the original source and using them in a different way much like Battlestar Galactica or, possibly, Metroid Zero Mission. Something like The Room sounds like it should've been a whole new game, it shared some staff, a character, and presumably similar themes, but it was the work of a staff that wanted to do something new but HAD to do another installment, rather than people wanting to make something new with Silent Hill as a foundation.

I don't really think this is a solid argument, given that in this very thread we've already covered the fact that the first three games already covered completely different aspects of the town. SH1 and 2 are so completely different in theme and purpose and story that they might as well be two separate series right there, so claiming that what games like Homecoming or Shattered Memories are doing to "change" the theme of SH is silly, because the series has never been about being the same from the very start.

Edit: And while we're talking about the subject, can ANYONE explain to me why Pyramid Head is supposed to be scary? Yeah, he can kill you in one hit, but you can make a sandwich, eat it, and then crap it out in the time it takes him to make a single attack. He's so large that he's clearly visible to the player no matter where he is on screen, so it's not a "he can come from anywhere" sort of scary. And he can't chase you, so there's no "you can't escape" terror either. I honestly have no idea how he's regarded as one of the most frightening monsters in videogame history.

Edit: And while we're talking about the subject, can ANYONE explain to me why Pyramid Head is supposed to be scary? Yeah, he can kill you in one hit, but you can make a sandwich, eat it, and then crap it out in the time it takes him to make a single attack. He's so large that he's clearly visible to the player no matter where he is on screen, so it's not a "he can come from anywhere" sort of scary. And he can't chase you, so there's no "you can't escape" terror either. I honestly have no idea how he's regarded as one of the most frightening monsters in videogame history.

I think it's more that he's one of the most memorable, really. A few decent set pieces, meaningful for the protagonist, and acts more like a FORCE than an ordinary antagonist. I imagine something like, say, Nemesis is probably scarier, but that seems more like the typical monstrosity than Pyramid Head. However, the fact Pyramid Head keeps being brought up is obnoxious (uhh, Track and Field aside due to absurdity). He's relevant to James, and no one else.

@GenHis music may be bland to you, but the majority of Silent Hill fans would disagree, as would I, despite not being an SH fan proper. Keep in mind that musical taste is largely subjective.

And no, sound engineering and music are not two "different" things. They're two branches of the same tree, both meant to evoke emotion or sensation, both meant to instill atmosphere, and both played at opportune times. Sound engineering and music are knit in a tangled hierarchy, both child and parent to one another in different circumstances. Whatever you may think of Yamaoka's ability to play "music", he's a consummate engineer nonetheless, integral to the series' atmosphere, and Silent Hill will suffer horribly for his departure.

If anything, the only thing wrong with Silent Hill series is the whiny fanbase, who are affecting the new development teams with the "copy Silent Hill 2" mentality, then bitching how samey everything is. Or accusing the Western devs of selling out, and then later saying how it's not Silent Hill anymore, it's generic Hollywood crap, and all that.

If anything, the only thing wrong with Silent Hill series is the whiny fanbase, who are affecting the new development teams with the "copy Silent Hill 2" mentality, then bitching how samey everything is. Or accusing the Western devs of selling out, and then later saying how it's not Silent Hill anymore, it's generic Hollywood crap, and all that.

I don't know anyone who wants them to copy Silent Hill 2, because it will never be done better than it already has.

I don't know anyone who wants them to copy Silent Hill 2, because it will never be done better than it already has.

I think it's less that people want them to copy Silent Hill 2 as to go down the direction Silent Hill 2 did, dropping the cult nonsense in favor of a more personal horror. Seems to me that Homecoming decided to go with both the cult nonsense and copying Silent Hill 2.

That's probably my only beef with the more current SH games, they're trying to tie together the two SH storylines into one cohesive whole, but they don't fit together so it ends up coming off a little bit hokey. SH1-3 and 2-4 are almost mutually excusive series in and of themselves, as they depict the town and two compltely differnet things, and in trying to tie them together you just muss things up. At least Homecoming had their version make relative sense as opposed to Origin's frickin' mess.